1. Field
The present disclosure is generally related to railroad tracks. More specifically, this disclosure is related to a system used to guide rail equipment onto rails of a turnout track.
2. Description of Related Art
In order to transition rail equipment (e.g., locomotives, cars, trains) from a main line track, a turnout track can be installed. A turnout track can be used to guide equipment off of the main line track (e.g., into storage in a rail yard) and/or to redirect movement of the equipment.
The turnout track typically includes parallel rails that curve towards the right or left and are positioned adjacent to tracks of the main line track. Despite their direction of curvature, devices are required to connect the parallel rails of the turnout track to the rails of the main line track so that the equipment being moved is guided onto the parallel turnout rails. As is generally well known, switches can be used to alternately switch between tracks. In other cases, jumpers are used for transition to a turnout track. Bent pieces of rail can be provided over rails of a main line track as a switch point to allow equipment to jump or transition to the turnout track.
Alternatively, braces can be positioned relative to the main line track and, in some cases, placed directly on top of the existing rails of the main line track. That is, rails of a turnout track can be positioned over the rails of a main line, and braced to the existing track. Other devices, called “leap frogs,” are designed with a hinge, so that the leap frog can be alternately positioned over at least part of the turnout rails to guide the rail equipment from the main line track and onto the turnout track.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 824,271, 899,967, 1,219,794, 1,222,577, 1,341,354, 4,005,869, 5,354,018, and 7,434,768 B2 show some examples of the devices noted above.